Sim Racing 2011: The Year That Was
2011 proved to be another great year for sim racing, with racers able to choose from more games than ever across all categories. Let’s take a look at the sim racing highlights from 2011 quarter by quarter.
Q1 2011
Need for Speed Shift 2 Unleashed was released for PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, featuring 119 cars/37 makes and 36 tracks. In other news the Gran Turismo 5 juggernaut rolled on, releasing several minor updates during Q1.
netKar PRO 1.3 Beta
PC sim racing enthusiasts welcomed the release of the netKar PRO 1.3 Beta which added significant new content and features to the game, including two cars – the Osella PA-21S hillclimb prototype and Shelby Daytona Coupe – a new track, the Trento Bondone hillclimb, and wet weather!
Q2 2011
iRacing launched a new game build in Q2, the main features of which were the Japanese Okayama track and the introduction of night racing, followed by the release of a new tire model later in the quarter.
The venerable Live for Speed released test patch Z30 followed by v0.6B later in the quarter, neither of which included the long awaited VW Sirocco, Rockingham Speedway or the new tire model but did include numerous small fixes to the game.
Live for Speed 0.6B
Arguably the coolest sim racing happening of Q2 was the five winners of Ferrari Virtual Academy taking to track at Ferrari HQ, Maranello. Over the course of a weekend they experienced Ferrari’s F1 simulator along with laps of Fiorano in Formula Abarth under the supervision of Luca Baldisserri.
Ferrari Virtual Academy Winners
Ian Bell of Slightly Mad Studios hinted at a ‘cunning plan’ involving the community buying into a game during its development that later in the year would be come Project CARS. Rounding up Q2 2011 was the release of Kart Racing Pro Beta 3, Power and Glory for Dirt 3, Gran Turismo 1.10 update along with the confirmation of Forza 4’s release date.
Q3 2011
Dominating Q3 was the release of Codemaster’s F1 2011 title. Also of note was the release of Game Stock Car by Reiza Studios and netKar Pro 1.3 Final.
Codemaster’s F1 2011
Blurring the lines between digital and real-world racing, Ignite Game Technologies announced the establishment of a performance driving center at Infineon Raceway, California, a key piece of their Simraceway title released in Q4.
Simraceway Performance Driving Center, Infineon Raceway
Q4 2011
The lead story of Q4 was Ignite Game Technologies release of Simraceway, an innovative free to join online racing game, complemented by the release of their SRW-S1 steering wheel.
Simraceway by Ignite Game Technologies
Kunos Simulazioni released an Adrenaline Pack add-on for Ferrari Virtual Academy and of greater interest announced the development of Assetto Corsa, their next generation sim racing game scheduled for release in 2012.
Ferrari Virtual Academy Adrenaline Pack
After years of development ISI reassured the community that the rFactor 2 open beta was real and imminent by releasing a steady stream of videos, screenshots and information.
iRacing’s Pro Race Of Champions
Rounding out 2011 was iRacing’s Pro Race Of Champions, an online event featuring only real world professional race car drivers. While the event was a charity fundraiser it very much demonstrated sim racing’s increasingly credible and relevant role in motor racing.
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